Tulloch task force to meet

A task force formed to help shape future development and recreation at Tulloch Reservoir will meet, possibly for the last time, tomorrow.

At the meeting, task force members are expected to sign off on a development resolution that will then be presented to Calaveras County supervisors, said District 5 Supervisor Victoria Erickson, coordinator of the Calaveras Tulloch Task Force.

If supervisors approve the guidelines for the Copperopolis reservoir, Erickson said Tri-Dam Project, the utilities district that manages the reservoir, could lift part of its moratorium on new docks at the reservoir perhaps allowing docks to be built on existing properties.

The meeting will start at 9 a.m. at the Saddle Creek subdivision in Copperopolis.

Tulloch Reservoir was constructed in the late 1950s and is about 7 miles long and 2,000 feet wide, with shoreline in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties. Several hundred houses have been built around the Calaveras side of the reservoir, but large pieces of land remained undeveloped.

More than 600 docks line Tulloch's shoreline, and some studies have shown the reservoir is overcrowded with watercraft on many summer weekends.

Tri-Dam officials issued the dock moratorium more than a year ago and said they wouldn't remove it until there were guidelines to curb future overcrowding.

Task force members have come up with a first draft of guidelines.

For example, the group's Tulloch Reservoir Management Plan suggests forming a partnership between Tuolumne and Calaveras counties and Tri-Dam Project.

The plan suggests implementing user fees for people who take watercraft out on the reservoir to help pay for better law enforcement and facilities at the reservoir.

The draft also notes requiring shoreline construction to include erosion control measures and addresses how far apart houses should be from each other.